The Activism of Kaká

American fans may not know too much about Kaká--I sure didn't. My friend George tipped me off about him, and I've been engrossed ever since. Kaká is a midfielder for Real Madrid, the cover athlete for the popular video game FIFA 11, and a former member of Time's 100 Most Influential People. The picture you see on the left is him after Brazil won the World Cup in 2002, and Kaká is known for such displays after other championship victories.

Kaká was born in Brazil to a reasonably well off family that allowed him to pursue soccer without too much distraction. As a child he was set apart early for his skill and talent. For most of his early years he focused on soccer, but he had a devastating injury when he was 18. Much like other great Christian athletes (see: Barton, Daric; Patrick, Andy), he dove into a pool and didn't quite find the deep end. He found out later he had broken a vertebra, was temporarily paralyzed in parts of his body, and wasn't sure he'd ever be able to play soccer again. Fortunately, as Kaká puts it, "the doctors said I was lucky; I am certain that it was God's will." Kaká recovered, and pursued his career with a newfound zeal for showing God how much he appreciated his healing hand.

Among other amazing things in his career, he was named an ambassador of the United Nations World Food Programme, and was the youngest person ever to be named as since its inception in 1960. Despite his status as a successful athlete, Kaka remained a virgin until he was married in 2005. He has claimed that when he was young, he “learnt that it is faith that decides whether something will happen or not." We can learn from Kaká that prayer is not simply another drop in the bucket of hope; rather it is a guarantee from God that he will take care of the situation in his glorious and magnificent plan.

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. -- 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.

We should all be so blessed as to live our lives with Kaká's faith; attributing all success and glory to God, praying nonstop for everything in our lives, and rejoicing in every time God blesses our endeavors and answers our prayers.

The time for God

Often times people feel like they need to take time out to focus on God. Most Christians feel guilty at times and feel like they've been focusing so much on their daily lives that they need to separate time out of their busy schedules and focus on God. Many very strong Christians may encourage you to do this, and I wouldn't argue against any time one takes to focus on God, but perhaps the problem here is perspective.

Let's look at the example of the competing athlete. She's in the stretch run, trying hard to make the playoffs, and it seems like every waking hour she spends is devoted to finding whatever edge it takes to get to the postseason goal. When she gets home at the end of the day, opening the Bible and reading is so hard that she finds herself looking at the words but not comprehending them due to exhaustion. She resolves to take 15 minutes at the beginning of the day to read her Bible, and focus on God. This works for a while, but after a while it becomes 12 minutes before she rushes out the door. Then 10 minutes over breakfast. Then 5 minutes while brushing her teeth. Then every other day she fits it in. It's obvious every day that it's just a chore she puts herself through, but she feels justified by the routine, and so she sticks with it.

If you're anything like the above gal, then maybe you need to focus on living out God in a broad scale. Your prayers should be focused on God giving you direction, mission, and clarity. If your goals in life that you work towards are for the benefit of God, then you won't have the need to set aside time for God simply out of necessity. By all means, continue waking up in the morning and reading, praying before sleep, and praying before every meal, but don't let that be your daily God fix. Live God in your actions, job, work, competitions, practices, and relationships and he'll give you all the fulfillment you'll need.

for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. -- Philippians 2:13

Let's face it--we stink. Trying to schedule God into our lives is backwards and mostly ineffective. God didn't save us in order to have the portion of our lives that it's convenient to allow him. God saved us so that he could use our whole lives for him, and so that we can delight and rejoice in his plans for us.

Dan O'Dowd and the Rockies' Mission

An article was published a few years ago about the tight bond between the Rockies, and the high concentration of Christians on the team. Lead by general Manager Dan O'Dowd, the Rockies organization sought to put a higher emphasis on player development and team chemistry built through finding and acquiring players of high moral character. O'Dowd acknowledges the high ratio of Christians compared to non other teams, but he asserts that he simply tries to find men of good ability and good moral character. No player was ever questioned about their faith, and the players attest to an accepting atmosphere regardless of religion.

We can take a good lesson here. Everybody in baseball knows that the Rockies tend to have a lot of Christians--the players attending Chapel, the general manager, former manager Clint Hurdle, and even the chairman of the team claim faith in God. This doesn't stop them from trying their best to remain accessible to the places they were called and live as examples to those around them. When I heard Heath Bell speak at Giants Fellowship day some months ago, he spoke of how when things turned sour in his life, he was embraced by the Christian guys on the Padres and how he felt the love of God through those men. We can only try to live like such men; where our faith in Christ guides us with such a strong moral compass that when it comes that people need a rock to lean on, they find Christ using us to help them out.

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. -- Colossians 3:12-14

When our Gaze does not meet God's

When I was in High School, I based a lot of my personal self-worth on sports. God was just a steady constant for me, school wasn't worth my time, and my social life was reasonable enough. During my sophomore year of High School I began to put a lot more of my dedication into sports in the hopes that I could finally excel at a sport I tried. During my Senior year, I caught an awful 48 hour flu two days before a crucial meet for Cross Country which caused me to miss the meet. I turned to God afterwards, but it was in a confused, bitter, and angry manner. I was still recovering from a bout with Depression from the year before, so my prayers weren't quite what they should've been.

How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever?

How long will you hide your face from me?

How long must I wrestle with my thoughts

and every day have sorrow in my heart?

How long will my enemy triumph over me? -- Psalm 13 1-2

I'm sure we've all felt like the psalmist at some point. We work hard for things, we pray, we thank God for our gifts, we do our best, and for some inexplicable reason it doesn't work out. Maybe we're not good enough for the goal, or circumstances beyond our control stop us, or maybe we just mess up along the way. In times like these it's easy to blame God and to wonder why he hasn't helped his loyal followers achieve their goals.

Look on me and answer, O LORD my God.

Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;

my enemy will say, "I have overcome him,"

and my foes will rejoice when I fall. -- Psalm 13 3-4

It's easy to forget at times like these what hold the world still has on us. We may say we trust in God, but oftentimes prosperity is just as difficult to remain grounded through. We feel like perhaps we've overcome some adversity in the past by relying on God, and now he's rewarding us with a time of accomplishment. We need to remember that God does not operate on a "Worship=Worldly Success" model. We can never let our gaze stray from God, even when the enemy may lure us away and subsequently taunt us when we fall.

But I trust in your unfailing love;

my heart rejoices in your salvation.

I will sing to the LORD,

for he has been good to me. -- Psalm 13:5-6

Every time I read this passage, I imagine David's physical state. I imagine a man yelling at God and probably crying. His hair is a mess from all the shaking he's done. He's sweating because of the physical toll the stress is taking on him as he unleashes his emotions on his Father. Like any kid, he's losing himself in anger at everything but himself. I imagine things this way because this is what I did when things got screwed up when I was in High School. I got angry, I raged, and I forgot what I owed to my father even in these times of hardship.

I think back to my own parents during this time. They rebuked me when I screwed up, but more importantly they remained patient with me as they knew that I needed to figure out what was really important to me. They waited patiently as I toiled through the mental gymnastics only to come out on the other side exhausted and needing love. When I did, they were there to assure me that everything would be alright, and that they were here to help me every step of the way. I came out knowing that sports, while a good thing and worthy of our best efforts, are not the reason that I am loved. God is the same way, multiplied infinitely. We can no longer see God in times like this, and we assume it's because God has turned his gaze away from us in our most desperate times. The reality is that it is we who have turned away because something glistens and pries us away from the rock of dependability, love, and trust which we forgot we so earnestly need.

As you may rant at God, I hope you come out on the other end exhausted and ready once again for God's love. God did not put you in the awful situation you're in now, but he is ready to fix it for you. Let us remember everything God has done for us, praise him for it, and rest easy knowing that he loves us in spite of how much we may misuse his gifts and forget his unending love.

Brad Ziegler's One Verse Evangelism

If you don't know anything about Brad Ziegler then you're probably in the majority. Brad is a relief pitcher for the As who broke the record a few years ago for consecutive scoreless innings to start a career. This feat was especially cool considering that his submarine style of pitching induces a lot of groundballs (which means he has to rely on his defense for outs) and the fact that he was not a highly regarded prospect (he was asked to switch to the submarine style after pitching coaches came to the conclusion he probably wouldn't be very good overhand.) These facts combined together make it so that only a few people ask for Brad Ziegler's autograph--the big As fans and the underdog lovers mostly. When Brad signs an autograph, he also writes down the phrase "1 John 5:5."

This is normally the part of the blog where I quote the verse in italics, but I'm not going to do that. Brad says that he writes the verse down partially because he loves the verse, but also because most people will have to go look it up. Brad uses this as a way to redirect people's praise for him back towards God and the Bible. I love this tactic for a few reasons; he lets the people choose if they want to read it or not, he leaves them with a permanent sign of his faith, and he picks a powerful verse which summarizes the entire gospel.

The moral here is that if you're not sure how to interpret the Bible for others, or if you don't necessarily want to screw things up, then just let the Bible speak for itself. If folks come to you with questions about Christianity and your belief, just go straight to the word and let God do his work. God gave us his word so that we could use it for ourselves as well as let it shine to the Earth as the good news. Don't be ashamed of the word; let God's magnificent deeds do for others what it has done for you.